We open Raw with Ted Dibiase paying off some female fans so he can get a front seat to the action of tonight, the March 28th, 1994 edition of Raw. It is the fifth consecutive Raw in Poughkeepsie, New York. Vince is here with Jim Cornette at commentary tonight. Already this is a better show than last week.
Opening action is Mr. "Made in the USA" Lex Luger against Rick "The Model" Martel. Decent reaction for Luger, but like I've said many times before, we are certainly far from the days of the Lex Express level momentum for Luger.
Both men lock up until Earl Hebner breaks it up. A lot of stalling until Martel gets some cheap knees to the abs of Luger. Luger turns around with some hard strikes in the corner, a hiptoss and a series of clotheslines. The camera focuses behind McMahon and Cornette as DiBiase is behind them. Back in tbhe ring, Luger gets a headlock takedown for two. After some more slow headlocks, Luger gets in a shoulder block and another headlock takedown for a two. Martel gets a roll up for two.
Luger puts in another long headlock. Martel breaks by going over the rope, but Luger brings him back in and right back into a headlock for two. So, just like his Wrestlemania match, this appears to be nothing more than stall spots. Martel breaks and goes for a boot, only to be hit with an atomic drop and a clothesline out of the ring as we head to break. When we return, Martel pulls out Luger and lays fists to Luger. Luger blocks a ram to the apron and smashes Martel.
When he gets back in, he gets choked by Martel. He works some chokes and boots in the corner. Luger reverse a whip, but gets a knee and a clothesline from Martel for two. Martel locks in a chinlock. The crowd chants "USA" to fire up Luger, who breaks the hold, only to get a knee to the gut to take him right back down. Right back into a chinlock by Martel, which he turns into a choke and right back into the chinlock. Luger breaks it by ramming Martel into the corner. Martel dives off the buckle, only to get a shot to the gut.
Luger attempts a dropkick, only to miss. Martel goes for a hiptoss, but gets turned into a backslide for two. Luger blocks a suplex to hit his own. Luger fixes his trunks while trying to recover. Luger eventually lands some right hands and a back body drop followed by a powerslam. Luger locks in the torture rack for the win.
A very long, boring match. Too many restholds and a lot of slow wrestling. Luger was easily gassed early on, and his offense was for the most part sloppy and dull. I don't know what happened, but the momentum that Lex Luger had before Wrestlemania X is already petering out.
Owen Hart is seen working out backstage. After beating Bret, he's ready to beat anybody. Which is fitting since he's in action next against Mike Freeman. Owen tears his shades and promises to tear Bret to pieces. The crowd chants "We Want Bret" early on while Cornette and McMahon ask why Dibiase is at ringside. He says that everyone has a price and that he has some big surprises in the coming weeks.
Owen gets a wristlock and a slap to the face of Freeman. He follows with a headbutt and a hairpull toss. The crowd is very high on wanting Bret while Owen continues his offense. Some knees to the elbow of Freeman and a dropkick. Owen hits a nice spinning back elbow. Freeman rams Owen into the buckle, but his back body drop is met with a boot to the face. Freeman whips Owen in the corner, but gets a boot and a bulldog for his troubles. Owen locks in the sharpshooter for the win. Not a bad enhancement match. So far, Owen has been top notch in this heel persona, and as always, improving week by week.
But all good things must sadly end as it's time for Doink and Dink. Doink gives Dibiase a squirt to the face from his flower, which angers the Million Dollar Man. Eric Cody is Doink's opponent for the week. Dink gives hims a joy buzzing before the match. Cody does do a good job in selling the hand. Doink gets a few wristlock takedowns. Dink runs in and does some stomps on Cody. THAT'S A DAMN DISQUALIFICATION!
Waistlock takedown from Doink which he turns into a cover for two. Doink then gets in a german suplex for two. Doink locks in an STF while Vince shills Weird Science the TV series. Oh my god, we truly are in the murky waters of the 1990's. Doink drops a whoopee cushion for three. A very unorganized match, and boy oh boy do I ever hate Dink.
It's Jim Cornette in the Ring to interview The Quebecers. They're all so elated to be with one another that even Pierre has to pull out a nice "Vive La Quebec". As Cornette gives a spiel over how many teams have been beaten by the champs in the past several months, Captain Lou Albano heads to the ring. Ol' rubber bands asks if they accepted the challenge from last week, which Polo has. Albano goes to get his tag team...
Polo tries to back out of it, while Jacques says that the shrinkers are their friends. But Albano says their his friends and they want a tag title match. Jacques says that they weren't part of the deal, but Albano will go to Tunney if he doesn't get the match. Overall, not a bad segment and a decent way to turn the Headshrinkers. This was something they were planning last fall if you recall and they sorta dropped it. So it's good that at least now they are going through with it.
It's the 1-2-3 Kid in action next against the Black Phantom. Some back and forth from both men early on until the Kid locks in a chinlock. He follows with a hammerlock, until the Phantom gets an elbow in the corner and a big hiptoss. Irish whip, which the Kid counters into a kick to the face. Vince, being the reddest of the red republicans gives some nice lip service to Rush Limbaugh during the match. The Kid ducks a squash in the corner and lands some nice kicks. He follows with a leg drop. Irish whip by the Kid, who misses a big dropkick. Phantom misses a clothesline and gets a nice spinning heel kick for two from the Kid. Hard irish whip and a dropkick followed by the moonsault from the Kid for a three. Not a bad match at all, definitely more speedy and energetic than most of what we've seen.
Our last match for the evening is Kona Crush in action against Ray Hudson. This leads us to our Nikolai Volkoff sighting of the week. And yes, this is leading to something. Crush starts with a really ugly chokeslam off a whip. He then gives Hudson a whiplash off the rope followed with a nice savate kick. He follows with a karate chop, a headbutt and some strikes. Backbreaker from Crush followed by a military press slam followed with a realy weak looking diving knee for three. Very ho-um squash.
We end Raw with a rundown of next week's card. The Wrestlemania Ten Man Tag, Razor Ramon, Yokozuna in action and Earthquake vs Adam Bomb.
Overall, not much to say about this edition. There were some good things like the Headshrinkers face turn, the Owen and Kid matches were decent and the show moved at a very quick pace. Also, Jim Cornette was great as usual. Downsides however are a long, dull Lex Luger vs Martel match, and a boring Crush match. Other than that, it wasn't really a Raw worth coming back to. C- is the rating for this week.